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Murali’s Renegades steal Gayle’s Thunder

The Melbourne Renegades beat the Sydney Thunder by 5 wickets in their Big Bash League 2012 clash at Stadium Australia in Sydney on Friday.

Chris Gayle had made his quiet start after Thunder had been put in to bat first. He had made what passes as a quiet start for him, having hit only one six and was on 11 off 12 when he was run out in the 5th over. Muttiah Muralitharan was brought into the attack and he removed Usman Khawaja in his 2nd over as Thunder slid to 41/2 in the 9th over.

Then Aaron O’Brien struck thrice (Chris Rogers, Azhar Mahmood and Sean Abbott); Muralitharan sent back the dangerous Mark Cosgrove and Marlon Samuels dismissed Cameron Borgas as Thunder lost 5 wickets in the next 4 overs, slipping to 60/7. Frenzied hitting from Ryan Carters and Chris Tremain carried the Thunder total to 116/7.

Azhar Mahmood gave the Renegades a scare with his quick dismissals of Daniel Harris and Marlon Samuels but Aaron Finch dug in to carry the team forward. Dirk Nannes chipped in with a wicket while Chris Gayle ran out Ben Rohrer but the Renegades won the game without further worries.

Renegades overhauled the Thunder target in 18.2 overs, posting 117/5 for a 5 wicket win to secure their second win and go to the top of the points table.